Outline two differences between a referendum and an election.

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Introduction

﻿Outline two differences between a referendum and an election. Elections and Referendums are commonly mistaken for being distinctively similar, but in fact they have many differences, for example; An Election is a official decision making process by which citizens vote for an individual to hold public office whereas a referendum is a direct vote in which voters are asked to agree/disagree with a particular proposition. A referendum is seen as a form of direct democracy; the electorates influence the decision being made, although referendums are not legally binding, where as election are. ...read more.

Middle

Referendums can be held on a local, regional/ national level. Elections however are held consecutively every 4 years; this emphasizes the representation of direct democracy as the citizens have little say, unlike referendums, which are usually held at the peak of a public disruption. Explain 2 ways in which a citizen can participate in political activity other than voting/joining a political party. Some various methods of participating in politics, other than voting/joining a party, that may be considered are: Pressure groups or being involved in an e-petition. ...read more.

Conclusion

Being in a pressure group may mean involving in lobbying techniques and propaganda. An e-petition is an online formal request signed by +1 people that asks parliament to take action for a particular cause. E-petitions may be linked to pressure groups through showing a strong belief towards a particular cause, although they differ as they are much more accessible to join and start up as they are based online and are accessible to anyone. Both e-petitions and pressure groups are known to provoke referendums to be conducted on behalf of the elected. This shows direct democracy in government; the people have the power to provoke change. Charlotte Tatham ...read more.

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The ballot papers are counted and if a candidate received more than 50 per cent of the first preference votes on the first count, then they are elected. If no candidate reaches the 50 per cent threshold, the two candidates with the highest number of votes are retained and the other candidates are eliminated.

Apart from the time consuming, expensive and tedious way that is involved in a referendum, after all that, who's to say that people will vote? One of the criticisms against direct legislation and a really compelling one, relates to the small size of the votes cast at a referendum.